OREANDA-NEWS. April 10, 2013. Dubai Branch of Agricultural Bank of China Limited (ABC) opened officially in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai Branch is the first branch that ABC established in Middle East. It is also the first branch set up by Chinese banks in Dubai. The establishment of Dubai Branch marks another important progress of ABC’s overseas operation strategy. It will provide significant support for ABC to expand its presence in Middle East and North African markets.

The UAE is one of the most important trade partners of China. Since the establishment of Sino-UAE diplomatic ties, bilateral economic and trade relations have developed rapidly for twenty-nine years. Statistics of the China customs indicated that the total Sino-UAE trade volume has grown by ten times in the past decade from USD3.9 billion in 2002 to USD40.4 billion in 2012. The growing bilateral economic, trade and investment relations create opportunities for further Sino-UAE financial cooperation. Besides, they also raise new requirements on the cross-border financial services of Chinese banks.

Dubai Branch will mainly engage in wholesale banking businesses, including corporate deposits, syndicated loans, bilateral loans, trade finance, international settlements, foreign exchange transactions, etc. It will take advantages of ABC’s large customer base, abundant funds and sound network to provide excellent, efficient and convenient cross-border financial services for bilateral economic, trade and investment activities in China, Middle East and African countries and regions.

In recent years, ABC constantly improved its overseas network layout. It now has 13 overseas branches and sub-branches in 11 countries and regions. Besides, it has established correspondent relations with 1,424 banks in 120 countries and regions. ABC has initially formed a global financial service network covering major international financial centers and countries in close bilateral economic and trade relations with China. And its capability of internationalized and diversified operation is being improved steadily.

As one of the biggest-state owned banks in China, ABC is playing an increasingly important role in the global market with its constant development and expansion. In 2012, ABC was ranked No. 84 among the Fortune Global 500 by Fortune magazine and No.10 among the Top 1000 World Banks by The Banker in terms of tier-one capital. In 2012, ABC was assigned the “A1” long-term deposit rating with a “Stable” outlook by Moody’s, and “A” long-term subject rating with a “Stable” outlook by Fitch Ratings. In addition, it was graded “A” long-term issuer credit rating with a “Stable” outlook by Standard & Poor’s.